A Whack Up 'Long Side The Head Of Human Resources: The Leadership Imperative

Written by Brent Filson


Continued from page 1

Today, in most organizations,repparttar presentation isrepparttar 119499 conventional method of communication. But when you makerepparttar 119500 leadership talkrepparttar 119501 key method by instituting "talk" courses and monitoring and evaluation systems broadly and deeply withinrepparttar 119502 organization, you will help make your company more effective and efficient.

Link: Though such recognition isrepparttar 119503 first step in getting offrepparttar 119504 sidelines, it won't get you intorepparttar 119505 game. To get intorepparttar 119506 center of things, you must link your activities with results. Not your results — their results.

Clearly, your clients are being challenged to get results: sales' closes, operations efficiencies, productivity advances, etc. Some results are crucial. But other results are absolutely indispensable. Your job is to help your clients achieve their results, especiallyrepparttar 119507 indispensable results. You must be their "results partner." Furthermore, you must help them get sizable increases in those results. The results that they get with your help should be more thanrepparttar 119508 results that they would have gotten without your help.

For instance, when developing company-wide objectives for leadership talks, you should not aim to have participants win a speaking "beauty contests" but instead to speak so that they motivate others to get increases in measured results. When you changerepparttar 119509 focus ofrepparttar 119510 courses from speaking appearance torepparttar 119511 reality of results, you changerepparttar 119512 participants' view of and commitment torepparttar 119513 courses and also their view of and commitment to you in providing those courses. So haverepparttar 119514 participants define their indispensable results and linkrepparttar 119515 principles and processes they learned inrepparttar 119516 course to getting measured increases in those results.

Execute: It's not enough to recognize. It's not enough to link. You must execute. "Execute" comes from a Latin root exsequi meaning "to follow continuously and vigorously torepparttar 119517 end or even to ‘the grave.'" Let's capture if notrepparttar 119518 letter at leastrepparttar 119519 spirit of this lively root by insuring that your activities on behalf of your clients are well "executed," that they are carried out vigorously and continuously in their daily work throughout their careers. If those activities are helping them get results, you are truly their "results partner."

For instance, in regard torepparttar 119520 leadership talk courses, HR professionals can lead an "initiative approach." Atrepparttar 119521 conclusion ofrepparttar 119522 course, each participant selects an initiative to institute back onrepparttar 119523 job. The aim of each initiative is to get sizable increases in their indispensable results by usingrepparttar 119524 principles and processes that they learned.

The initiatives and their results should be concrete and measurable, such as productivity gains, increases in sales, operations efficiencies, and reduced cycle times.

The participants should be challenged to get increases in results above and beyond what they would have gotten without having takenrepparttar 119525 course. They should be challenged to get those increases within a mutually agreed upon time, such as quarterly reports. In fact, ifrepparttar 119526 participants don't achieve an increase in results that translates to at least ten times whatrepparttar 119527 course costs, they should get their money back.

Don't stop there. Getting an increase in results is notrepparttar 119528 end ofrepparttar 119529 course, it should berepparttar 119530 beginning —repparttar 119531 beginning of a new phase of getting results,repparttar 119532 stepping up phase. The more results participants achieve,repparttar 119533 more opportunities they have created to achieve even more results. The leadership talk course should have methods for instituting results' step-ups.

One such method can be a quarterly leadership-talk round table. Participants who graduate fromrepparttar 119534 course meet once a quarter to discussrepparttar 119535 results they have gotten and provide best practices for getting more. Human resources should organize, direct and facilitaterepparttar 119536 round tables. In this way,repparttar 119537 resultsrepparttar 119538 leaders are getting should increase quarter after quarter.

When HR professionals promote such leadership talk courses, courses that are linked to getting increases in indispensable results and that come withrepparttar 119539 "results guarantee," those professionals are truly seen as results partners in their organizations. I have usedrepparttar 119540 leadership talk as an example of how you can greatly enhance your contributions torepparttar 119541 company by applyingrepparttar 119542 Leadership Imperative. Don't just applyrepparttar 119543 Imperative to such courses alone. Apply it to whatever challenge confronts you.

When you recognize how that challenge can be met throughrepparttar 119544 Imperative, when you linkrepparttar 119545 challenge to getting increases in measured results, and when you execute for results, you can transform your function.

You don't have to be as distinguished as Einstein or as awesome as Big Daddy Lipscomb, but you will in your individual way perceiverepparttar 119546 simple, powerful center of things. You'll be inrepparttar 119547 thick ofrepparttar 119548 most important game your company is playing — helping change your world andrepparttar 119549 world of your clients.

The author of 23 books, Brent Filson's recent books are, THE LEADERSHIP TALK: THE GREATEST LEADERSHIP TOOL and 101 WAYS TO GIVE GREAT LEADERSHIP TALKS. He has worked with thousands of leaders worldwide during the past 20 years helping them achieve sizable increases in hard, measured results. Sign up for his free leadership ezine and get a free guide, "49 Ways To Turn Action Into Results," at www.actionleadership.com


Leading with Power and Authority: Energize Others with Deep Green Leadership

Written by James K. Hazy, Ed.D., Founder & CEO, Leadership Science, LLC


Continued from page 1

* * * Michael Dell, founder and CEO of Dell Computer Corporation is a master of deep green leadership. His organization is famous for aligning resources with strategy and leads its industry with power and authority. In his memoirs Dell emphasizes how important it is for all employees to understandrepparttar organizations value creation strategy and to realize that their rewards are related to actions that directly support this strategy. "We explained specifically how everyone could contribute.... And we make itrepparttar 119498 core of our incentive compensation plan for all employees.2" At Dell Computer, power and authority, not to mention impressive returns over many years, wererepparttar 119499 direct result ofrepparttar 119500 deep green leadershipSM programs that provided clarity and alignment about resource flows.

These stories demonstraterepparttar 119501 power of deep green leadership and its impact on people, whether in a division or acrossrepparttar 119502 firm. When leadership operates to reinforce people's deeply held sense fairness with respect to resources and their access to them, they are empowered. This energizes them, so that everyone organizesrepparttar 119503 collective effort, not just a few people atrepparttar 119504 top ofrepparttar 119505 pyramid.

The Story Part 2: Resolution When Lynn arrived in his office, he immediately asked some tough questions. "How well do people understand their decision authority? and do they understand how our business works? how resources flow and decisions are made? Are we passionate that everyone hasrepparttar 119506 tools and resources they need to do their jobs? Do we critically review project plans and budgets and make sure everyone controlsrepparttar 119507 resources they need? Do people feel they share in our collective success? How doesrepparttar 119508 situation compare with six months ago? How engaged are our people?

These were difficult questions, but ones that could be answered. The process took several weeks, but oncerepparttar 119509 data was gathered and preliminary analysis was completed,repparttar 119510 trend was clear—leadership activity aimed at clarifyingrepparttar 119511 resource distribution flows inrepparttar 119512 organization, deep green leadershipSM activity, had fallen off inrepparttar 119513 organization.

When he had these answers, Lynn called his leadership team together to sharerepparttar 119514 findings and express his concerns. "We seem to have lost our edge," he said. "I don't seerepparttar 119515 same level of self-motivation and energy in our people that I did six months ago. Data showing reduced activity levels in this area acrossrepparttar 119516 firm support my belief that there is cause for concern. Our leadership velocitySM inrepparttar 119517 areas of resources, decision authority and reward distribution has dropped off. To berepparttar 119518 strong company we need to be, we have to do better."

The team had a difficult time at first, uncomfortable that all members ofrepparttar 119519 organization could ever feel they were being treated fairly and had what they needed to do their jobs. It seemed a bit ambitious and perhaps naïve to believe everyone could be made to thinkrepparttar 119520 organization was fair in its resource distribution. "Life isn't fair", some managers argued.

What began as a one-hour discussion, continued intorepparttar 119521 evening. Follow-up meetings were held with a much broader array of leaders. It became clear fromrepparttar 119522 interaction that even amongrepparttar 119523 leadership, there was a sense that there was an unevenness or arbitrariness in decision making, and tellingly, that this was okay. Renewal was needed. As Lynn knew, it had already begun.

Inrepparttar 119524 course ofrepparttar 119525 discussion, it was agreed that a key objective overrepparttar 119526 next six months was to greatly clarifyrepparttar 119527 decision-making authorities and resource flows acrossrepparttar 119528 organization. Each group agreed to work within their teams to clarify and document their value creation strategies andrepparttar 119529 decision making process at all levels of their organization. Monthly town meetings were planned withrepparttar 119530 sole focus on howrepparttar 119531 firm did business, what drove success and how each person's work fit intorepparttar 119532 process. In parallel,repparttar 119533 compensation programs ofrepparttar 119534 firm were reviewed and communication plans developed to further everyone's understanding of how resources were used and distributed inrepparttar 119535 organization. The process cascaded intorepparttar 119536 organization until a consistent and clear picture ofrepparttar 119537 business began to emerge acrossrepparttar 119538 organization. The quarterly cultural survey in use was modified to include targeted questions to provide on-going feedback.

After six months,repparttar 119539 results of this initiative were documented in a new section of onrepparttar 119540 firm's employee website. As appropriate, aspects were also integrated intorepparttar 119541 organizations planning process thus providing much greater clarity and visibility to intorepparttar 119542 process. All managers were asked to communicaterepparttar 119543 process with their teams and provide feedback. After several months,repparttar 119544 changes torepparttar 119545 process dwindled to a manageable level, and enthusiasm was up. Excitement was evident and morale was improving.

To close outrepparttar 119546 cycle of leadership, Lynn asked his teams to propose ways to be proactive, with continuous feedback and action. He realized that leadership requires discipline and vigilance and that nothing works forever. Atrepparttar 119547 same time, he didn't want to wait forrepparttar 119548 same problem to surface again.

Epilogue On a recent visit torepparttar 119549 same sales office he had visited earlier, Lynn shared a ride with a sales manager who was also heading torepparttar 119550 airport. He found it was a good opportunity to learn what a junior manager was thinking and how she thought aboutrepparttar 119551 organization. "You know", she said a bit timidly, "I'm glad to know you're sharing your ride torepparttar 119552 airport. We are pretty close to hitting out stretch objective this quarter and we need to save every dime we can. I'm hoping to have a little extra spending money at Disney World this spring!"

As he pulled his luggage fromrepparttar 119553 trunk with a loud "thump!", Lynn smiled to himself. He was happy to share his car if it helped her have a little more fun with her family. She deserved it. _____________________________________

1Burgelman, R.A. (1991). Intra-organizational ecology of strategy making and organizational adaptation: Theory and field research. Organization Science, 2(3), 239-262.

2Dell, Michael with Catherine Fredman. (1999) Direct from Dell: Strategies that revolutionized an industry. New York; Harper Business. p.135.

(c) Copyright 2004 James K. Hazy, Ed.D. Leadership Science offers a unique mix of practical application and research in all areas of organizational leadership. We offer custom and canned seminars, speakers and intervention programs built upon the research in how leadership impacts results. To learn more about Leadership Science, visit our website: http://www.leadershipscience.com/. Mailto:jim.hazy@leadershipscience.com


    <Back to Page 1
 
ImproveHomeLife.com © 2005
Terms of Use